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The Detroit Pistons have come to expect Western Conference foes to play their best when they come to town. But considering how tight things are in the Western Conference these days -- only 4.5 games separate the top eight tams -- the Pistons anticipate an even tougher battle with each of their next three games against Western Conference squads that are knee-deep in the race to the playoffs.
For a Detroit team that seems to frequently raise its level of play only when challenged by another top-flight squad, this is exactly what Flip Saunders' crew needs. "We're playing teams right now where the next three games, they really have a sense of urgency," Saunders said. "So we have to match that sense of urgency." For the moment, Detroit's focus will be on today's opponent, San Antonio.
The Spurs come into today's game having lost by 25 points to the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday. Not including games played on Thursday, the Spurs are one game behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the best record in the Western Conference.One of San Antonio's strengths this season has been the play of Manu Ginobili, who is San Antonio's top scorer (20.4 points per game) despite starting just 21 games. "He's playing at an unbelievable level right now," Saunders said of Ginobili. "Plus they're bringing him off the bench. So when he does get on the floor, a lot of times he's going against second-tier guys." Tayshaun Prince will be among the Detroit players to spend some time on guarding Ginobili on Friday. And Prince, like Saunders, expects tonight's game to be a good one. "It doesn't matter when we play them, whenever we play them, it presents a good game," Prince said. "(Friday's game) should be even better knowing we lost and they lost."